Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

September 23

1993
Youngest girl to fly across the U.S.: 11-year-old Vicki Van Meter lands in San Diego, after her 3-day flight from Maine.

1992
First woman to play in one of the four major pro sports leagues: Manon Rheaume plays goalie for the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Blues. They lost (4-6).

1986
The rose is voted the official flower of the U.S. by Congress.

1972
Ferdinand Marcos declares martial law in the Philippines.

1966
Vietnam War: U.S. begins using aerial defoliants south of the demilitarized zone.

1962
The New York Philharmonic Hall opens.

1962
The Jetsons cartoon debuts on ABC.

1952
First undefeated boxer to win the world heavyweight championship: Rocky Marciano KO's Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round.

1952
Checkers speech: Richard Nixon gives his famous speech explaining an $18,000 campaign fund. He claimed the only personal gift he received was a dog named Checkers - which he refused to give up. An outpouring of public sympathy kept him on the ticket for vice-president.

1949
Russia enters the atomic age: Russia announces that it has exploded its first atom bomb.

1926
Jack Dempsey loses the world heavyweight boxing title to Gene Tunney on a decision. He had held the title since 1919.

1912
First Keystone Kops film: Mack Sennett's short Cohen Collects a Debt is released featuring the famous slapstick police troop.

1908
Merkle's Boner: Bottom of the 9th of the deciding game of the National League pennant race; score 1-1. The New York Giants hit to center field, bringing in the winning run. Fred Merkle, who had been on 1st, heads for the dugout without advancing to 2nd, causing the play to be invalidated. The game was declared a tie and a playoff game was played and won by the opposing Chicago Cubs.

1846
Neptune discovered: The planet is discovered by German astronomer J.G. Galle. Its existence had been predicted the previous year by English astronomer John Couch Adams and French astronomer Le Verrier.

1845
First baseball team: The New York Knickerbocker Club is organized. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1806
Lewis and Clark expedition: The famed explorers returns to St. Louis after exploring the American West. Their work established a route to the Pacific.

1780
American Revolution: Benedict Arnold's plot to betray West Point is revealed by British Major John André. Andre was later hanged as a spy.

1779
American Revolution: John Paul Jones in the Bonhomme Richard captures the British ship Serapis in the most famous battle of the war. It was during this battle that he declared "I have not yet begun to fight."

1959
Jason Alexander, American actor. TV: Seinfeld (chronically unemployed George).

1949
Bruce Springsteen, American singer, songwriter, "The Boss." Music: Born To Run (1975) and Born In The USA (1984).

1947
Mary Kay Place, American Emmy-winning actress. Film: The Big Chill (1983). TV: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Loretta).

1943
Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer, songwriter, who has sold over 100,000,000 records. Music: To All The Girls I've Loved Before (1984, with Willie Nelson).

1939     d. 1988
Roy Buchanan, American guitarist, one of the world's greatest rock guitarists.

1938
Tom Lester, American actor. TV: Green Acres (Eb).

1938     d. 1982
Romy Schneider (Rosemarie Albach-Retty), Austrian actress. Film: Visconti's segment of Boccaccio '70 (1962, for which she gained international acclaim), The Trial (1962), and What's New, Pussycat? (1965).

1930
Ray Charles (Ray Charles Robinson), American singer, composer, pianist, blind since the age of 6. Music: Georgia On My Mind (1960, #1) and Hit the Road, Jack (1961, #1).

1926     d. 1967
John Coltrane, American tenor saxophonist, the most influential jazz musician of the 60s. Music: My Favorite Things (1960).

1920
Mickey Rooney (Joe Yule, Jr.), American Emmy-winning actor. Film: Andy Hardy movies (1937-) and National Velvet (1944). He made national headlines in 1959 by appearing drunk on The Jack Paar Tonight Show.

1907     d. 1985
Rudd Weatherwax, American actor, animal trainer.  Lassie's trainer for the film Lassie Come Home (1943) and the TV series.  He is also the uncle of Ken Weatherwax who played Pugsley in The Addams Family.

1899     d. 1977
Tom Campbell Clark, American lawyer, U.S. Attorney General (1945-49), and U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1949-67).

1897     d. 1984
Walter Pidgeon, Canadian-born actor, noted for his films with Greer Garson. Film: The Gorilla (1931, title role).

1882
Herbert McLean Evans, American biologist. He discovered vitamin E (1922) and proved that iodine is used by the thyroid gland (1940).

1861     d. 1942
Robert Bosch, German industrialist, invented the spark plug (1902).

1838     d. 1927
Victoria Claflin Woodhull, American politician. She was the first woman nominated for U.S. President - by the Equal Rights Party in 1872 with Frederick Douglas as her running mate.

1745     d. 1815
John Sevier, American pioneer and Indian fighter, first and only governor (1785-88) of the American state of Franklin. He was also the first governor (1796-1801) of Tennessee.

1712     d. 1759
Ferdinand VI, King of Spain (1746-59).

63 B.C.     d. 14 A.D.
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. He was the heir of Julius Caesar. His defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 A.D. made him ruler of the world.

1994     b. 1917
Robert Bloch, American author. Writings: Psycho (1959, the basis for the Hitchcock film).

1987     b. 1927
Bob Fosse (Robert Louis Fosse), American dancer, choreographer, director. He was the first director to win an Oscar (Cabaret, 1972), a Tony (Pajama Game, 1954), and an Emmy (Liza with a Z, 1973). He also directed his semi-autobiographical All That Jazz (1979).

1974     b. 1905
Cliff Arquette, American actor. TV: The Charley Weaver Show (title role) and Hollywood Squares (guest).

1939     b. 1856
Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist, founder of psychoanalysis, defined the "Oedipus complex." When asked about his cigar smoking he replied "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

1889     b. 1824
Wilkie Collins, English writer. A very successful writer in his time, he wrote The Moonstone (1868), the first English language detective novel, which some still consider the best ever written.

1889     b. 1818
Eliza Cook, English author. Her poem The Old Armchair made her a household word in England and America.

1877     b. 1811
Urbain Le Verrier, French astronomer. Both he and J.C. Adams, working independently, correctly predicted the existence and orbit of Neptune (1845). The planet was discovered the following year using Le Verrier's calculations.

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